In 1974, when he was 10, Colbert's father, a doctor, and his brothers Peter and Paul, the two closest to him in age, died in a plane crash while flying to a prep school in New England.
“There’s a common explanation that profound sadness leads to someone’s becoming a comedian, but I’m not sure that’s a proven equation in my case.... I’m not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so.” Colbert
